In response to the letter from P. Bellièr, which we published yesterday, Thérèse reacted the very next day:
My poor and dear Little Brother,
your pain deeply moves me, but you see how good Jesus is. He allows me to write to you once more and to try to comfort you, and without a doubt this is not the last time. The dear Savior hears your complaints and your prayers, and that is why He still lets me remain on earth. Do not think that I am therefore grieving, oh no, my dear Little Brother, on the contrary. I see in this action of Jesus how He loves you!...
My Little Brother, how I wish to pour the balm of comfort into your heart! I can only borrow Jesus’ words from the Last Supper. He will not be offended, for I am His little bride, and therefore His possessions are mine. I say to you as He said to His friends: “I am going to the Father, but your heart is filled with sorrow because I have spoken to you in this way. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is for your good that I am going away. Now you have sorrow, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”
Yes, I am sure that when I enter into life, my Little Brother’s sorrow will turn into a peaceful joy that no creature will be able to take away from him. I feel it; we are to go to Heaven by the same path, the path of suffering united with love. When I am in the harbor, I will teach you, dear brother of my soul, how to sail through the stormy sea of the world with the surrender and love of a child who knows that his Father loves him…
I ask you, Little Brother, strive to believe that you will not lose me but rather that you will find me and that I will never leave you… Farewell, my dear and dearly beloved brother, believe that I will be your true sister for all eternity.
T. of the Child Jesus, O.C.D.
(Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, letter to Abbé Bellièr, DT 258, July 18, 1897)
